<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>A New Familiar by dasfreefree, imagine_that_haikyuu</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24626200">A New Familiar</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dasfreefree/pseuds/dasfreefree'>dasfreefree</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagine_that_haikyuu/pseuds/imagine_that_haikyuu'>imagine_that_haikyuu</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Multi, Reader-Insert, foreign exchange student!AU, gender neutral!reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 11:09:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,497</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24626200</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dasfreefree/pseuds/dasfreefree, https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagine_that_haikyuu/pseuds/imagine_that_haikyuu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A sudden job transfer for your dad means that your next few years of high school are to be spent in Japan. While you struggle to adapt to your new life, you thankfully meet and befriend an enthusiastic Tendou Satori the day before your first day in a new school. With his help, you're sure to get used to things.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tendou Satori/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>101</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This scenario was originally posted on October 30, 2016 to our <a href="https://imagine-that-haikyuu.tumblr.com/post/152509752783/so-a-second-year-transfer-student-comes-to">tumblr</a>. Some edits have been made since then.</p><p>Writer: Rachel Lauren</p><p>Anonymous asked: So a second year transfer student comes to shiratorizawa and totally loses their way through the big school area. They meet Tendou who helps them find their class and they become friends. He offers to teach them some more Japanese and they make some cultural mistakes ( calling him by first name for example.) that tendou gets kinda flustered over &amp; doesn’t know how to handle when they’re being blunt abou things like that Thanks Xx^^</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Where…are the room numbers?” you asked yourself, peering up at the sign above the classroom door. The placard jutting out from the wall was blank and you looked around to see if anyone else was having the same issue. Except no one was there because the school year didn’t start until tomorrow and you had only come today so you could start familiarizing yourself with campus.</p><p>You thought back to the first day of your freshman year of high school back in the States; you assumed <em>that </em>school was large and easy to get lost in. Compared to Shiratorizawa,—which you could have confused for a college campus if you hadn’t known better—it felt like a cakewalk to roam the halls of your old school. At least the classroom doors were all labeled then so students knew where they were.</p><p>Maybe this room was just a dud. You continued walking down the hall and stopped in front the next class. The sign above it was blank too.</p><p>“How is anyone supposed to figure out where their classroom is?” you complained aloud. You had been in Japan for a few weeks already, but that homesickness you thought had subsided came back and settled itself in the pit of your stomach.</p><p>You should have stayed back in America, maybe living with your grandparents. The only reason you had moved to Japan in the first place was because your dad’s company transferred him there with the promise of a huge promotion. Poorly-timed, you thought. You had hoped they could have held off until you graduated high school at least, but the pay raise for Dad meant when it came to college later on, less student loans for you.</p><p>Staring down at the schedule in your hand, you felt your frustration rise at the sight of the new alphabet you had only just started learning last year. They had given your father a year to prepare for the move, which meant nightly intensive Japanese classes with your parents at the town community school. But as everyone had warned you, a year is not enough to learn the intricacies of the Japanese language.</p><p>“Semisemi, you’re so slow today!” you heard a voice shout from the stairwell not too far off. In the next moment, a tall redhead bounded up the stairs with a cat-like grin on his face. “Wakatoshi-kun and Reon and Yamayama are already waiting for us!”</p><p>“Who’s idea was it anyway to have a third-year lunch on the roof of a school building the day <em>before </em>classes? Couldn’t we just go somewhere normal?” another voice called. A silver-haired boy joined his side on the landing.</p><p>You felt a rush of relief wash over you. Finally! People you could ask for help from!</p><p>“Excuse me!” you called out to them, a slight pep in your stride as you made your way over to the two you assumed would be your schoolmates.</p><p>“Oh, there was somewhere here,” the redhead stated. As you got closer to them, his eyes widened with curiosity. He tugged on his friend’s sleeve and pointed enthusiastically at you “They’re a foreigner! Semi, there’s a mysterious transfer student here! At our school!”</p><p>“What is this? One of your shitty manga?” his friend chided. “We get foreign exchange students all the time.”</p><p>“Sorry to bother you. I just have a really quick question,” you said. “Where can I find class 2-2?”</p><p>The redhead, visibly absorbed in your presence, nodded his head. “Yup, totally a foreigner. Hasn’t even introduced themselves yet.”</p><p>You froze in place, embarrassed by you social faux-pas. He was right. You thought about how to properly introduce yourself: last name, first name. That was the order you were told people went by here. “Excuse me again. I’m (L/N) (F/N). I’ll be in class 2-2 starting tomorrow.” You punctuated it with a polite bow.</p><p>“Semi Eita, class 3-1. Well as of tomorrow, that is.”  He gave you a firm nod.</p><p>“Tendou Satori, class 3-2. Guess that means we’re your senpai.” He held a hand up in a peace sign. “Now as for you question, you just passed it.”</p><p>Tendou curled his middle finger back into his palm from the peace sign and pointed to a classroom behind you. You turned your head back over your shoulder and sure enough, the placard above the door read 2-2. You looked back toward Tendou and then again to the sign. Both boys were equally as confused as you were.</p><p>“I’m gonna head up,” Semi said. Tendou nodded, eyes still on you.</p><p>“Hold on a second,” you mumbled. You marched back over to the door and stood just in front of the sign. It definitely had the room number on it. You twisted your body around to get a view of the other side of the placard, which was blank. <em>Oh</em>. Whatever genius had engraved those placards hadn’t done a very good job at it. Really now, this was supposed to be a prized institution! Who didn’t think that students would need to see their classroom numbers when they walked from both ends of the hallway?</p><p>Feeling a little less frustrated now that the mystery was solved, you returned to the third-year and bowed again.</p><p>“Thank you so much…” Shit. His last name was Tendou, right? That’s how people introduced themselves here, last names first. But, he had known you were a foreigner so maybe he had introduced himself with his first name first because that was what you were used to and he wanted to be sensitive to that. Or maybe you were completely wrong. Your face scrunched up in confusion and anxiety. Well, you had a fifty percent chance of getting it right. “…Satori-san?”</p><p>“It’s Tendou-san,” he corrected curtly. Your shoulders dropped and you let out an exasperated sigh.</p><p>“Dammit,” you moaned in English because the Japanese word escaped you at the moment.</p><p>“Ooh, what does that mean?” Tendou asked. There was genuine curiosity in his tone. It reminded you of all the times back in America when you would ask your friends who spoke languages other than English at home to teach you all the curse words and dirty words they could. A small smile tugged at your lips when you thought of it.</p><p>“It’s a curse word. You say it when your frustrated or mad about something, usually,” you explained somewhat animatedly. “I can’t remember how to say it in Japanese, though.”</p><p>The third-year placed a finger to his chin in thought. “Maybe <em>kuso</em> is the word you’re looking for?”</p><p>“Yes, that’s it!”</p><p>He gave you a smug grin and patted your shoulder twice. “Well, even though your Japanese sucks, you have a great senpai who’s willing to help you out. You can even come to my dorm to borrow some of my manga to help you learn any time you want. I have to head up now, but I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”</p><p>Tendou practically skipped up the stairs with a wave towards you. You waved back and found yourself smiling, <em>really smiling</em>, for the first time in a few weeks. Maybe this move to Japan wouldn’t be so bad.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This scenario was originally posted on November 17, 2016 to our <a href="https://imagine-that-haikyuu.tumblr.com/post/153324930503/please-continue-the-tend%C5%8D-x-foreign">tumblr</a>. Some edits have been made since then.</p>
<p>Writer: Rachel Lauren</p>
<p>Multiple people requested another part of this scenario.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You weren’t entirely sure how your new classmates would think of you. Back in the States, reactions were always mixed when it came to the arrival of new students. While your American classmates had always been cordial to new students and even excited by the new blood, there were always horror stories from towns far away of transfers—foreign or otherwise—being bullied on their first day and beyond. You had only vaguely heard accounts of new students who were simply ignored: there was nothing special about a student who didn’t happen to be a local.</p>
<p>When lunch time rolled around, you <em>wished</em> it had been the last one. Barraged with question after question from classmates who were curious about what American life was like, you hadn’t even had the chance to touch your food. It would be rude to turn them down, especially when you needed to make friends and fast, but you would be more embarrassed if you didn’t eat and your stomach growled during the middle of a lecture.</p>
<p>“So have you ever been to New York City? Is it really as great as it is in movies?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but it’s only cool the first few times you go, I think. The subways smell like some weird mix of mold and Pepto Bismol. And Times Square is kind of a pain to walk through.”</p>
<p>You wanted to excuse yourself after your last answer to find someplace—any place—that would give you some solace to eat your meal in peace. You didn’t care about eating lunch alone at this point: you were tired of answering all these questions. In any case, you should have been the one asking them questions, since you were living in their country now and still had so much to learn.</p>
<p>And then <em>h</em>e poked his head into your classroom.</p>
<p>“Ah, my cute new kouhai’s already charming the pants off of their classmates!” he cooed, sauntering over to your desk. The few students who had pulled their chairs up to your desk looked back and forth between you and Tendou with utter confusion, murmuring questions about how you two were already acquainted. “But sadly, I’ve come to steal (L/N)-san from you all.”</p>
<p>You blinked while he jerkily motioned his head towards the door. It took a moment to register what he was doing, but you caught on quickly enough and nodded your head.</p>
<p>“Yes! Tendou-san was kind enough to show me around yesterday and I promised that I would eat lunch with him today to thank him. I can’t believe I almost forgot,” you explained. You excused yourself and stood, taking your lunch with you. Tendou patted your back and lead you out of the classroom, giving your classmates a little wave as the two of you headed out.</p>
<p>That was how you came to join him for lunch every day.</p>
<p>It was certainly intimidating at first to join him in his third-year friends in the cafeteria, but soon enough you got used to it. Tendou also had no qualms introducing you to his friends and teammates too when they all ate together, only one of whom you had already met. Naturally, you also got used to him too, slowly learning different things about each other. Boy, was Tendou certainly an interesting guy.</p>
<p>“It still kind of baffles me, Tendou-san, that you play volleyball or really that you’re athletic at all, and to have gone to Nationals before too,” you commented one day while you ate with Tendou and Ushijima.</p>
<p>“What’s that supposed to mean?” he snapped, leaning forward in his chair.</p>
<p>“Well sure, you’re tall, but you’re also kind of a giant dork with the whole manga thing. Back home, jocks who were good enough to compete on the national level certainly wouldn’t be caught liking <em>Naruto</em> of all things, or if they did, they wouldn’t be so open about it,” you said.</p>
<p>He narrowed his eyes at you. “There’s so many layers of stereotyping there I don’t even know where to start with you.”</p>
<p>“I’m not saying liking both sports and manga are mutually exclusive. After all, sports manga exists and athletes certainly are free to like what they like. I’m only reacting with the observations I’ve made from having lived on both sides of the pond,” you added. “Now, Ushijima-san I could easily see picking up any sport, so it’s not so much a surprise for me.”</p>
<p>Tendou rolled his eyes, turning his head towards Ushijima. “Well, I would be more concerned about this one. At least, I read <em>Jump</em> for the content. But Wakatoshi-kun here, when I lend it to him, reads it for the ads. I don’t think anyone else on the planet does that.”</p>
<p>You gave Tendou a questioning look before turning towards the ace.</p>
<p>“They are some great products that I’ve been introduced to because of them,” Ushijima said. If you hadn’t already gotten to know Ushijima fairly well at this point, you would have thought his specialty was dry sarcasm. Unfortunately, you knew he was far from ever teasing you about anything. No, that was Tendou’s area of expertise.</p>
<p>You shook your head and gave a resigned sigh. “So what I’m hearing is that both my senpai, who happen to be renowned high school volleyball players on the national level, are in actuality really big dorks. Smashing stereotypes. I dig it.”</p>
<p>“What do you mean by you ‘dig’ it?” Ushijima asked. Tendou stifled his laughter.</p>
<p>“Right. That one doesn’t quite translate either.” It had become a bad habit of yours now, to translate American idioms and slang directly into Japanese whether or not it would make sense culturally. At least, you were starting to get comfortable enough with the language to be able to get to that point, and a good deal of that was thanks to Tendou. Or at least the manga he lent you.</p>
<p>“It’s just another way of saying ‘I like it’ in English,” you explained.</p>
<p>“And you think we’re the weird ones,” Tendou teased, a sly smile forming on his lips. “But back to what I was saying before you interrupted with your narrow-minded cultural assumptions.” You stuck your tongue out at him at this point. “You should come watch us at Interhighs next week, ___-san. I’m sure our morale would boost tenfold knowing you’re there cheering us on. Right, Wakatoshi-kun?”</p>
<p>Tendou nudged his friend with his elbow, wiggling his eyebrows all the while.</p>
<p>“Whether or not (L/N) attends won’t have any bearing on my performance,” he said. Tendou shot a quick glance your way, but you appeared unmoved by Ushijima’s statement. Even he was surprised at how quickly you acclimated to Ushijima’s bluntness. “But I suppose that would also mean it wouldn’t hurt for them to come.”</p>
<p>The bell signaling lunch would ring soon. You smiled and gave them a nod before starting to pack up your things.</p>
<p>“I was gonna go either way, but it looks like Tendou-san isn’t going to do too hot if I’m a no-show from the sound of it,” you kidded with a wry smile. Tendou narrowed his gaze again at you, but his lips formed into his usual catty grin all the while. “I’ll talk to you guys later.”</p>
<p>You stood and waved them off. When you were well out of earshot, Tendou let out an exaggerated sigh turned to Ushijima.</p>
<p>“Almost blew it for me there, buddy,” he chided playfully. “At least (L/N)-san’s a pretty cool person to not get so shaken up so easily, right?”</p>
<p>“My apologies,” Ushijima replied, stoic as ever. “However, they did say they were going to come regardless.”</p>
<p>Tendou gave his friend a few pats on the arm and scooted his chair back. The two exited the cafeteria and headed to their respective classrooms after the school bell chimed. As they walked, Tendou turned to his friend one last time before parting.</p>
<p>“Let’s hope they’re just as cool when I ask them out on a date.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This scenario was originally posted on July 6, 2017 to our <a href="https://imagine-that-haikyuu.tumblr.com/post/162682715758/a-new-familiar-part-3-tendou-x-foreign">tumblr</a>. Some edits have been made since then.</p>
<p>Writer: Rachel Lauren</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You decided to wait a day after Shiratorizawa’s loss to Karasuno to say anything to Tendou. He was busy with his team unpacking how they played, how the underclassman could improve from that, and you wanted to give him space. This was going to be tough for him, you knew that much. A text after the match about it seemed too cheap.</p>
<p>Not to mention, you felt like you had brought them bad luck somehow. Your first time seeing them play was the last time he would do so. The good luck charm your mom insisted you make for him too seemed to have no positive bearing on the results. No matter how loudly you cheered for the team, it didn’t help. It took a few hours of wallowing self-pity for you to snap out of it, mostly because you knew if Tendou found out you were blaming yourself for this, he’d never let you live it down.</p>
<p>Knocking on the door to his dorm room never felt so difficult before. Your knuckles rapped against the door, but you honestly didn’t know if it was forceful enough for him to have heard. But it swung open and you nearly jumped because of it.</p>
<p>“Ah, Wakatoshi-kun, have you finally finished–oh?” Tendou’s brightness took you by surprise, and he was equally taken aback to find your standing there. His wide-eyed look quickly dissolved into something a little more smug but playful, as you’ve grown used to from him and admired. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t (L/N)-chan? What brings you to my humble abode this afternoon?”</p>
<p>Tendou stepped aside to let you in, arm out to gesture to his room. You giggled at this and entered. It certainly was not the first time you’ve swung by on a Sunday just to spend time with him, but something was different about all of this. There was a tension hanging over the two of you; you couldn’t help but wonder if he was hiding his disappointment from you.</p>
<p>He shut the door and you seated yourself on his bed as you normally would.</p>
<p>“I wanted to see how you were doing. I know I didn’t get a chance to speak with you yesterday, and I wanted to wait until we could talk in-person,” you explained. “I know it doesn’t change anything, but I thought you were amazing in yesterday’s match. I’m really glad I got to see how cool you are when you play.”</p>
<p>Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed the charm you made him on his nightstand. Your heart dropped a little into your stomach at the sight, which fell further when Tendou didn’t move from his spot in front of the door. You never saw him so out of it.</p>
<p>“Me too. I’m glad you got to see me play in my last volleyball game.” Tendou’s voice was uncharacteristically quiet. He finally turned to you and smiled as he normally would. Somehow, it made this all the more heartbreaking, and bit your lip to fight back tears. “Although, I imagined everything playing out much differently.”</p>
<p>You forced a laugh.  “Understandably so.”</p>
<p>“Well, obviously we would have won,” he continued, “but it’s the celebration I’m really talking about. I had everything planned out in my head too.”</p>
<p>“What are you talking about?” You were really laughing now. It seemed to brighten him up as well.</p>
<p>“After we won and did our cool-downs, I would have found you in the gymnasium hallways, and you would have been so excited to see me that you forgot how to speak Japanese again or try to translate something directly from English that makes no sense.”</p>
<p>You whined, “Hey! I’ve gotten a lot better about that.”</p>
<p>“Still, it would have been really cute and I would have told you that because I think you’re cute. And then I would have asked you out.”</p>
<p>The tension in the room returned in a new form. Your smile faded in a near instant. You weren’t sure of what to say in that moment, or if you even should have said anything. But your heart was beating fast and you were wondering for sometime if that’s how Tendou felt about you. Once confirmed for you, you’re at a loss. It wasn’t that you didn’t reciprocate. Actually, it was quite the opposite. It took sometime for you to realize it, but you liked Tendou–really, <em>really </em>liked him. You just never thought you’d get to that point, and you hadn’t the faintest idea about what to do about it.</p>
<p>Your mind stayed blank for sometime, but when you finally figured out your next words, they come as a shock to him.</p>
<p>“And then what?” you asked a little shyly. “What did you plan to happen next?”</p>
<p>“You would have said yes.”</p>
<p>There was a lump in your throat when you swallowed. “Well, why don’t you ask me now?”</p>
<p>Tendou’s eyes widened again, but he smiled nonetheless. His whole body seemed to finally relax before letting out chuckle.</p>
<p>“And they think <em>I’m</em> a sadist,” he teased. You grinned and pat his mattress, ushering him to sit down too. When he took to your side you felt yourself tense. It was a good mix of nerves and excitement, uncharted territory for you, but something about looking into his eyes when he turned to you remind you o home. “I’ve always thought you were cute and I really like you, (L/N)-chan. Will you go out with me?”</p>
<p>America is so many miles away and it’s only been a few months, but it feels foreign to you now. Nodding and telling Tendou that you like him back, him taking your hands, and you sharing a kiss feels much more like home now.</p>
<p>It became a new familiar for you.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>